Too often as voters, we see two important things before and during election cycles. The first is the news media tries to define who the capable or best candidates are. The problem there is they don’t necessarily have the same set of interests we do. The second is candidates try to razzle dazzle us by raising issues that sometimes aren’t even pertinent to the office they are seeking, or they fail to address any issues. We also see in both instances too much emphasis on personality and not enough on capability.  To determine who can best lines up with our thinking for the what a particular office holder should do, we only need to have them answer a few questions. The other minutia and fluff they toss out can be ignored, Getting those questions answered will give us a good indication of if elected, how they will govern, Getting these questions answered also removes part of the filters the new media places on information we need.

Illinois governor’s mansion

The questions are:

FOR GOVERNOR

1. Have you ever sought public office before?
2. What was the outcome?
3. Have you ever been responsible for a budget of $50 million or more?
4. If yes, what industry______________________?
5. Have you ever managed a staff of at least 100 people?
   1. I know they are all important, but please rank your top three priorities for the state.
      1. Urban job creation  ___
      2. Increasing tourism  ___
      3. Overhauling the budget process ___
      4. Term limit legislation ___
      5. Union contract negotiations ___
      6. Property tax freeze ___
      7. Income tax adjustments ___
      8. Other ____________________________

   _________________________________

   FOR MAYOR

   

   The race for mayor will begin to heat up very soon

1) Have you ever sought public office before ___

2)What was the outcome?  __________

3)Have you ever been responsible for a budget of $10 million or more? _____

4)If yes, what industry______________________?

5) Have you ever managed a staff of at least 50 people?  ____

6) Rank the following in order of importance to you

___ Job training programs targeting the poorest zip codes

___ Economic development

___ Revision of the municipal code

___ Police reform

___ Participatory budgeting

___ Increased funding for anti-violence programs

___ Reopening mental health clinics

___ Increased hiring of African Americans in the fire and police departments

___ Jobs for 17-24 year olds

___ Infrastructure repairs/improvements, including sidewalks

___ Teacher contracts

___ Park and playground upkeep

___ Bicycling lanes

____ Other ___________________________   _____________________________

Next issue: City Council questions